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Game On – For 35 Years Since 1991, Potawatomi Casino Hotel has been an entertainment cornerstone in Milwaukee.
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h i r t y- f i ve ye a rs a g o, t h e Fo re s t County Potawatomi regained a portion of their ancestral land in the Menomonee Valley. The area had once been rich with natural resources, but years of heavy industry had turned it, quite literally, toxic. The tribe dedicated a great deal of time and resources to reviving and developing the land. That effort culminated on March 7, 1991, with the opening of Potawatomi Bingo. The small bingo hall, located on Canal Street just south of Downtown Milwaukee, was the first off-reservation tribal casino in the nation. Now known as Potawatomi Casino Hotel, the entertainment destination has come far from its humble beginnings. Welcoming millions of visitors every year, Potawatomi has one of the largest gaming floors in the state, with more than 3,000 slot machines and over 100 table games, as well as multiple restaurants. “You walk into the casino and it’s like Vegas was dropped down in Milwaukee,” says Dominic Ortiz, Potawatomi’s CEO and general manager. “But of course, we embrace Midwestern characteristics. We have fish fries every Friday during Lent in our restaurants. We source our food from local vendors. We always incorporate local into what we do. We’re a Milwaukee-based casino – everything that we do stays in Milwaukee.” Potawatomi’s evolution kicked off in the early 2000s, when changing state laws allowed the casino to add more features, more
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games and more slot machines. In the summer of 2008, the casino went through its first major renovation, an expansion that turned it into the premier casino in Wisconsin. On July 12, 2012, Potawatomi broke ground on its 264-foottall hotel, making the casino an overnight destination. In 2019, a second tower was built, and the hotel now totals 500 rooms, the second-largest in the city. All those changes were a prelude to the massive $150 million renovation that kicked off in 2022. “If you haven’t been to the casino in the past five years, you won’t know what you’re walking into,” Ortiz says. The second-floor gaming area has been completely remodeled, and the casino now boasts a new food hall and revamped